1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for sealing foodstuff containers, in particular drink containers, comprising: a sealing element adapted to engage on a wall of a foodstuff container around a wall opening arranged in the wall, and an operating element adapted to co-act with the sealing element for displacing the sealing element between an opened position leaving the wall opening clear and a closed position sealing the wall opening, the operating element being provided with coupling means for coupling to the foodstuff container, wherein the relative orientation of the sealing element and the operating element can be changed such that the operating element can cause the sealing element in the closed position to engage under bias on the wall for substantially medium-tight sealing of the foodstuff container. The invention also relates to a foodstuff container provided with such a device.
2. Description of Related Art
Reclosable liquid containers have already been known for a long time. The American patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,538 thus describes a reclosable can for drinks or other foodstuffs. The known can is closed at the top by a seam-folded upper wall or cover. The upper wall is herein provided with a wall opening for passage of drink held in the can. The can is further provided with a device connected to the upper wall for closing the can. The device herein comprises a rotatable sealing element and a standing operating element connected to the sealing element. The sealing element is preferably constructed from a non-permeable lip which, after rotation of the operating element, can cover or leave clear the wall opening whereby the passage of drink can thus be respectively prevented or made possible. The advantage of the known can is that the can is reclosable, whereby the content of the can does not have to be consumed all at once but can, if desired, be consumed in portions at different times. Closing the passage opening of the can by means of the lip does somewhat enhance conservation of the content of the can, but mainly prevents the content of the can leaving or being able to leave the can in simple manner. As well as the above stated advantage, the known can also has drawbacks. A significant drawback of the known can is that only mediocre sealing of the can is realizable. The sealing element cannot seal the can completely in liquid-tight manner, or can do so only briefly. In the sealing situation of the can the content of the can is however still accessible to micro-organisms and gas exchange can take place freely between the atmosphere surrounding the can and the local atmosphere prevailing in the can. Particularly when the drink held in the can is carbonated, whereby an internal pressure will be built up in the can, the sealing element will be unable to seal the can sufficiently, as a result of which the carbon dioxide can and will escape. As already generally known, a reduction in the carbon dioxide content of drink results in a—usually unwanted—change in the taste of this drink.
An improved device for sealing beverage containers, in particular beverage containers filled with a carbonated beverage, is disclosed in the American patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,314. This device comprises an operating element and a sealing element which are mutually coupled by means of a screw connection via a central wall opening in the wall of the beverage container. By rotating the operating element the sealing element can be lowered or raised thereby clearing respectively blocking another wall opening to open respectively seal the beverage container. Although with the known device a significantly improved closure for (carbonated) beverage containers is provided, the known device also has multiple drawbacks. A first major drawback of the device is that the device is constructively relatively complex. Due to this constructive complexity the prime costs to manufacture the known device are commonly considerable. Moreover, since the top wall of the beverage container is provided with multiple wall openings the device is relatively sensitive for leakage and which is to the prejudice of the reliability of the known device.